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All things considered, Four was lucky he had been sitting away from the rest of the group.

They were stopped for a moment, taking a break from relentless travel. The midday sun lit the glade, glinting off of armor and swords in sparkling rays. It was too early in the day to stop altogether and make camp, so most of their supplies were still packed away. Some of the others had gone off scouting and likely would be back soon. Everyone else was wandering around the clearing or cleaning weapons.

Four was doing the latter. He held his namesake blade in his hand, carefully wiping off the remnants of the last monster hoard the group had run into. While there wasn't much there, he made sure it was properly taken care of. He was, after all, a blacksmith by trade. Failing to take care of his weapons would be a disgrace on his part. Thus, he made sure his blade was polished to perfection.

As he did so, his gaze was unfocused, distant. To the others, it seemed as though he was lost in thought. While that was somewhat true, Four's version of 'lost in thought' was quite different from most people's. That was because when such things happened, it usually meant he was arguing with himself. Or rather, themselves.

I'm just saying, Vio began. That last strike could have been better planned out and executed.

What do you mean, "better planned"? Blue hissed. It was perfectly fine!

Green sighed from his corner of their mind space. He knew where this was going. It happened all too often with Blue and Vio.

It was not "perfectly fine". Had that bokoblin's arm been even an inch more to the right, we would have been in trouble. It would have prevented the blow from being fatal and provided it an opening to attack us.

But it didn't. It's arm was where it was, and we stabbed it through the gut and it died. Why do you even care about this?

Because it's important to analyze mistakes and improve from them.

Excuse me? Did you just call it a "mistake"?

... yes.

Guys? Red said nervously.

Blue's immediate response was a growl. A "mistake"? I saved our hides!

Guys? Red put in again.

I'd beg to differ. While we were certainly in danger. We weren't immediately at risk of dying at the time, and holding back a moment wouldn't have cost us anything.

Green? Red said.

What are you saying? Blue sounded on the verge of an eruption.

I am saying that, if anything, what you did was reckless and put us in more danger. You're lucky we didn't get hurt.

What!?

Okay you two. Green finally interrupted, sounding tired. That's enough. You've had your daily allowance of ten minutes of arguing.

But-

I'll say what I always say. Blue, Vio has a point about the preparedness and need for patience. Vio, Blue knew what he was doing and we're all okay. Green's voice sighed. And that's enough of that.

I'm not sure he really did know what he was doing-

You're expecting me to just ignore what he just-

Red, Green said, pointedly ignoring the both of them. What's on your mind about today?

...The flowers growing by that tree are really pretty.

I completely agree. It was clear the previous conversation was over, whether they liked or not. Which neither Vio nor Blue did, but they knew they wouldn't get anywhere now and accepted it with minimal grumbling.

It was mostly due to his mental conversation that he wasn't paying attention to what the others were doing. He didn't hear Hyrule's call of "Hey, what's this?" He only vaguely registered Twilight walking past him to investigate whatever Hyrule had found. Despite noticing the others gathering to see as well, they didn’t make a move to get up. It was most likely just a strange shaped rock, or maybe an old item some traveler long ago had dropped. Satisfied with that conclusion, the rest of the goings on were tuned out for Four. As such, he didn’t notice the mutterings from the other Heroes.

It was the yells from several of the others that caught his attention. Startled, he looked up from his sword. To his horror, he was met with the sight of a huge cloud of darkness enveloping the clearing. He jumped to his feet and retreated into the trees. To his collective relief, the darkness didn't continue into the treeline.

What is that? Red yelped.

Ambush! Blue roared.

Good thing no one else can hear us... Vio muttered. We would have given ourselves away. Although whatever caused that likely knows we’re here still...

Green said nothing, opting to ready his blade instead. The initial relief felt upon escaping the shadows was replaced by concern and fear. What about the others?  They'd been in the clearing when the darkness appeared. Were they okay? The other three went silent, listening as well.

He waited in suspense. After a moment, the darkness began to dissipate. He slipped into a ready stance, prepared to fight whatever monster or being had caused this. To his shock, he saw no one when the last of the darkness lifted. No one but the other heroes, that is.

Four reentered the glade, lowering his sword as he glanced around. "Hey," he called out, turning to the others. "Is everyone okay?"

Silence. None of them answered.

Are they okay? Red wondered.

I don't like this... Blue muttered. Don’t let our guard down.

"Guys? What happened?" He tightened his grip on his sword.

Still, no answer. Then, after a moment, Legend spoke.

“Hello, Four.”

Their veins turned to ice. That wasn’t any of them had ever heard Legend use before. Something was wrong. Then, he turned, and Four swore his heart skipped a beat.

As Legend turned, Four was positive he saw traces of darkness curling across his face. They were gone in a moment, but he was positive he'd seen it as Legend's eyes met his. It hadn’t dissipated into the air like the rest of the fog. Instead, it seemed as though it had been absorbed, seeping into his skin. That couldn’t be good.

“Legend?” He began, carefully. “Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know, Four. Is there?” He didn’t like that tone of voice, nor the way Legend was looking at him. He seemed...angry? Something was very, very wrong here.

Four swallowed. “Are...are you okay?”

“Fine.” Legend spat, taking a step forward. “Absolutely dandy.”

Four stepped backwards, fighting the urge to pull his sword up into ready position. This was Legend. His friend. What had happened to him? Why was he suddenly angry? “What are you doing?” he asked as the other boy’s hand went to his bag.

That question was answered as Legend pulled out his Fire Rod.

Legend?! Red gasped.

Oh shit- Blue hissed.

Run! Vio yelled.

Way ahead of you! Green replied, turning on his heel and bolting as a blast of fire erupted in the place he'd been standing before. He glanced back towards his friend-turned-attacker.

The other Heroes were turning around now as well. Their expressions matched the enraged scowl now painted on Legend’s face. “Where do you think you’re going?” He roared, sending another blast towards Four. They yelped as the flames licked at the back of their legs. Even though they hadn’t caught on fire, he knew they’d been burned, even if only a little.

This is that dark fog’s doing. Some form of mind control, I’d guess. Vio muttered.

No shit, Sherlock! 

What do we do?

Green didn't have an answer, not right now. He was too busy running. He could let one of the other's take over so he could think, but he suspected he was best suited for the task at hand. Vio was no doubt also trying to come up with a solution, Blue might try and fight them (bad idea), and Red might try and talk with them (worse idea). So he kept running. His own thoughts could wait until they were safe.

If that was even possible. After all, these were experienced travelers and fighters. Would it even be possible to find somewhere remotely safe from them without putting themselves in some other form of mortal peril? He didn’t know. But he had to try.